Gas Meters Market Overview
The growing utilization of gas (by residential and commercial installations) over conventional sources of energy, such as oil and fossil fuels, is identified as a major trend in the gas meters market. This shift is likely to open new areas of application for these meters as well as growth opportunities in related services, such as support and logistics, and data management. Furthermore, different government regulations dictating the phasing out or introduction of different meters are expected to play a key role in shaping the market over the forecast period.
A gas meter is a specialized flow meter that measures the volume of fuel gases, such as natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). These are employed in residential, commercial, and industrial installations to measure the flow and volume of gases. In the report, the gas meters market is segmented on basis of type, technology, application, and region.
On basis of type, the gas meters market is divided into diaphragm meters, rotary meters, turbine meters, ultrasonic flow meters, and others, where the “others” category includes orifice meters and Coriolis meters. Diaphragm meters, also called bellow meters, are the most commonly deployed meters in residential and commercial installations across the globe and are, therefore, expected to hold a significant share in the market in the near future.
The gas meters market is bifurcated into standard gas meters and smart gas meters on the basis of technology. Smart gas meters provide precise consumption percentage or volume of gas, thereby offering benefits such as easy disbursed gas measurement, leakage check, and computation of bills to both the gas disbursing authority and the consumer. Furthermore, these meters allow the end users to plan their gas consumption, adhere to energy targets, and monitor expenditure.
The gas meters market is also classified into residential, commercial, and industrial applications. Based on end use, the residential category is expected to lead the market during the forecast period. This can be attributed to the increasing adoption of smart meters and growing government support across Europe and Asia-Pacific (APAC) to encourage the use of these meters for monitoring disbursement and combating instances of theft of gas in supply lines across domestic households in the regions.
Based on region, the gas meters market is categorized into North America, Europe, APAC, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). Globally, North America is expected to continue holding the largest share in the market in the coming years. This is primarily attributable to the growing demand for these meters from residential as well as industrial consumers in the region. Moreover, this demand is also expected to increase on account of recent advancements in exploration and production (E&P) of natural gas across gas fields in the North American region.
Gas Meters Market Dynamics
Drivers
Increasing development of gas pipeline projects is expected to drive the growth of the gas meters market during the forecast period. The development of pipeline projects across emerging economies and of shale oil projects in the U.S. and Canada, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) endeavors, and remediation of pipeline infrastructure bottlenecks are expected to generate demand for these meters globally.
Furthermore, diversification of their “energy basket” by countries (such as India and China) demonstrated by a shift toward gas from traditional sources of energy is likely to translate into new projects, thereby offering a boost to the gas meters market.
Restraints
The high cost of application and the overhauling/retrofitting of supply lines with novel, advanced meters in low-income countries are likely to inhibit the growth of the gas meters market.
Opportunities
The MEA region is witnessing a steady increment in investments in the energy sector. Furthermore, several countries in the region are diversifying their energy portfolios to reduce dependence on oil. This could translate into growth opportunities for the companies operating in the gas meters market, thereby encouraging the deployment of these meters in the commercial, industrial, and residential sectors.
Gas Meters Market Competitive Landscape
Some of the major players operating in the global gas meters market are ABB Ltd., Badger Meter Inc., Elster Group GmbH, Endress+Hauser AG, Emerson Electric Co., GE Energy Management Inc., Itron Inc., Landis+Gyr AG, Siemens AG, and Schneider Electric SE.
The study provides the historical as well the forecast market size data for various countries, including the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., Italy, Spain, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.
